Echoes Between Us - McGarry, Katie Page 0,35

around the main three, jockeying for position to have their glasses filled and to be closer to the gossip.

It’s late, probably nearing midnight, and the pool is lit up by multiple lights within and around the pool. In the shallow section of the water, Lucy jumps from the steps leading into the pool, but then quickly doggie paddles back to safety. She has water wings on her arms as she is equal parts fascinated with pools and terrified of them. Strange since the only love affair I have is with water and jumping.

“I can’t wait for you to move into the neighborhood,” Sylvia says. “It’s going to be like this all the time instead of just on the weekends.”

Mom’s laugh is so loud that several of my friends turn to look at her. Lucy frowns at the sound then sits on the stairs of the pool and plays with her mermaid doll.

Sylvia grins ear to ear as she watches the commotion in the kitchen. “Your mom is the best. I want to be the life of the party, too, when I’m knocking on the door of fifty.”

Sylvia told everyone our sophomore year that she’s a lesbian at a get-together just like this. I already knew the news, so did Miguel, and we told her in eighth grade it didn’t change our friendship. When she told everyone else, we stood beside her, shoulder to shoulder in support. But her declaration hit everyone else like a shockwave.

The adults in the room were frozen, like we were all stuck in the Ice Age, but then my mom walked across the room and hugged her. That one hug woke everyone else up, including Sylvia’s parents, and ever since then, Sylvia’s been a loyal supporter of my mom. Oftentimes more friend to her than she is to me. I get it, but it can be annoying.

It doesn’t help that while Sylvia’s parents love and support her, they still have conversations with her about whether she’s “sure about her choices” or if she’s “really given guys a chance.”

I don’t tell her my mom tries to get me to go out with her on a biweekly basis. With the way she worships Mom, that’d break Sylvia’s heart.

“I hope I have a body like hers, too,” she continues. “Your mom is ridic with how fit she is.”

Sylvia looks over at the other girls in swimsuits and readjusts the spaghetti straps of her bikini like she’s unsure how her body compares, which is stupid. She’s on the girls’ swim team, could swim laps around my mom and is one of the few who can keep up with me in the pool. So she has muscles—that’s a good thing.

“Your mom said she’s not going to put your pool in until next year,” Sylvia says.

“Yeah.”

“Now that you’re finally back to swimming again, I need someone to challenge me in my workout. Want to do laps together this week?”

“Sure.”

“You didn’t go to swim practice today. How come?”

“I had things to do.” I was learning how to communicate with ghosts, and then I spent time driving around trying to wrap my head around life. Actually Veronica’s life. She has a brain tumor, and from the way that guy talked, at least talked around it, it sounds like it’s bad.

“You’re quiet.”

Brain tumor has a way of shutting me up.

“Why aren’t you in the pool now?”

I nod in Lucy’s direction and watch as she tries to put on goggles. I’m tempted to help as the straps need to be adjusted, but I give her space to see if she can figure it out on her own. “She needs a set of eyes.”

“Yeah … but typically you swim with her.”

I shrug. “Not in the mood.” Brain tumor. God, what is that like?

Sylvia fiddles with the undone button of her jean cutoff short-shorts. Underneath is her bikini bottom and I wonder if this means she’s going to hit the water again. “I told your mom you’d be upset.”

That causes my eyes to jerk away from Lucy to Sylvia. “What?”

“Don’t play it off. We’ve been friends for too long for that. I told your mom and my mom that instead of making this big plan behind your back to make sure you’re in a good group for the senior project that we should have been up front. You’re aware you need good grades to stay on the swim team, and you know how tough this project is going to be. But your mom thought you’d be offended. That’s